Isabella man takes plea agreement, given probation, SIS in meth case

In a Jan. 17 criminal hearing before Circuit Judge Craig Cater, Michael L. Jones, 42, of Theodosia, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) pursuant to a plea agreement with the state. 

He was placed on supervised probation for a term of 5 years and given an SIS (suspended imposition of sentence), which serves as a sort of “back up” sentence that can be executed by the judge if he violates his probation enough times. 

As part of the agreement, an additional charge of stealing a motor vehicle was dismissed. 

According to the probable cause statement prepared by OCSD Deputy Matt Rhoades, at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 14, 2022, while traveling down Highway 160, the officer met a blue 2000 Dodge pickup truck that matched the description of one reported stolen. Rhoades turned around and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. 

The truck was the subject of an Oct. 8, 2022, dispatch call in which the reporting party told the officer that it had been stolen and that Jones had it in his possession. Rhoades reportedly contacted Jones after that call and told him that if the truck wasn’t returned, he would have to report it as a stolen vehicle

“I recognized the driver as the suspect of the vehicle theft, Michael Jones... I searched Jones... and located a used hypodermic needle in his left pants pocket. There was a small amount of brownish looking liquid in the syringe, which I believe, based on my training and experience, to be heroin. I conducted an inventory of the vehicle prior to towing and located a black rolled film canister in the center compartment of the vehicle. The container smelled of marijuana and there was a white crystal-like substance coating the inside which I recognized from my training and experience as methamphetamine. The container field tested positive for meth. I towed the vehicle and listed it as recovered. I arrested Jones and transported him to the Ozark County Sheriff’s jail,” Rhoades wrote in his report.